CAS DataLoggers recently provided a data logging system for a slaughterhouse with meat lockers storing product requiring continual temperature monitoring.
The company also needed proof of best practices to show regulatory compliance and preserve its reputation. Frozen meat needed to be maintained at –20° C (–4° F) and fresh meat at –1.7° C (+29° F). In case of an air-conditioner compressor failure, the meat could easily spoil and pose a health hazard, so management had an immediate need for a reliable yet affordable temperature monitoring and alarming system.
The slaughterhouse installed an Accsense VersaLog TC temperature data logger for each of its three meat lockers, placing the loggers next to the racks so personnel could easily retrieve data. These battery-powered stand-alone recorders each feature eight channels for flexible logging in cold chain applications. Each logger monitored the room’s ambient temperature while its onboard thermistor recorded temperature from –40° to 70° C (–40° to 158° F) and also featured seven external thermocouple inputs compatible with every type of thermocouple probe.
For long hauls, each temperature logger has a non-volatile 4MB flash memory that can store up to 2 million measurements and lets users log for extended periods with the choice to stop or overwrite logging when the memory is full. Temperature loggers are compact and lightweight, featuring an aluminum enclosure and conformal coating PCB, to stand up to extreme environments including the freezers. Users can set wide-sampling interval selections, such as once every 10 minutes, and an internal battery is standard with the logger with a life of about 10 years.
Slaughterhouse management connected each data logger to an office PC via USB ports for quick data retrieval to ensure best practices were followed. The Accsense VersaLog system offer users convenient connection flexibility and are also accessible modem or Ethernet connections.
Accsense VersaLog also handled freezer alarming requirements. Each data logger has two configurable alarm thresholds available per channel, and the ALARM1 & A2/EXT terminal strips can be configured as alarm outputs so users stay on top of sudden changes in their data. As a failsafe, users configured their temperature logger’s local alarm outputs to trigger a siren whenever the product suddenly goes out of temperature specification, and the onboard LED lights in red when in alarm condition. Each VersaLog reports its alarm status to a host PC via modem, Ethernet device server, or USB.
The Accsense VersaLog SiteView software was also used for configuration, downloading, plotting, analysis, and alarm reporting. SiteView is a Windows-based application with an intuitive graphic interface and supports USB, serial port and Ethernet connections. Fast communication speed enables quick downloads, and users can view data in real-time via chart recording, zoom in/out and also add comments to graphs to provide a detailed view of results.
For further information, visit www.DataLoggerInc.com.
